Ans. That there may be a day of retri- bution, ^^■hen God may render to e\ery one according to his work. Things seem to be carrie<l very unequally in the world ; the wicked do so prosper as if they were re- warded for doing evil ; and the godly do so suffer as if they were j)unished for being good. Therefore for the vindicating of God's justice, there must be a day, \\ here- in tliere shall be a righteous distribution of ])unishments and rewards to men, ac- cording to their actions.
Quest. 3. JVho shall be judge ?
Ans. The Lord Jesus Christ, John v. 22., " The Father hath committed all judg- ment to the Son." It is an article of our creed, that, Christ "shall come to judge the quick and the dead," It is a great honour jmt upon Christ ; he who was himself judg- ed, shall now be judge ; he who once hung upon the cross, shall sit upon the bench. Christ is fit to be judge, as he partakes both of the manhood and (iodhead.
1. Of th nhood: being clothed with
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the liuman nature, lie may be visibly seen of all. It is requisite the judge sliould be seen, Rev. i. 7., " Beliold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him."
2. As he partakes of the Godhead : he is of infinite prudence to understand all causes brought before him, and of infinite power to execute offenders. He is describ- ed with seven eyes, Zech. iii, 9., to denote his prudence ; and a rod of iron, Ps. ii., to denote his power. He is so wise that he cannot be deluded; and so strong, that he cannot be resisted.
Quest. 4. JV/mi will the court sit, when will (he time of judgment he ?
Ans. For the quando, or the time of the geneial judgment, it is a secret kept from the angels, Mat. xxiv. 36., " Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the an- gels of h«!aven." But this is sure, it can- not be far off; one great sign of the ap- proach of the day of judgment, is, * That iniquity shall abound,' Mat. xxiv., sure then this day is near at hand, for iniquity did never more abound than in this age, and lust grows hot, and love grows cold. This is certain, when the elect are all converted, then Christ will come to judgment; as he that rows a ferry-boat, stays till all the possengers are taken into his boat, and then he rows away, so Christ stays till all the elect are gathered in, and then ho will hasten away to judgment.
Quest. 5. What shall he the modus or manner of trial ?
Ans. 1. The citing of men to the court. The dead arc cited as well as the li\dng. Men, when thev die, avoid the censure of our law-courts; but at the last day, the dead are cited to God's tribunal, Rev. xx. 12., " I saw the dead small and great stand before Ood." This citinjr of men will be by the sound of a trumpet, 1 Thess. iv. IG., and this trumj)et will sound so loud, that it will raise men out of iheir graves. Mat. xxiv. 31. Such as will not hear the trum- pet of the gospel sound in their ears repent and believe, shall hear the trumj)et of the archangel sounding, arise and he judged.
A. 2. The approach of the judge to the bench.
First, This will be terrible to the wicked. llow can a guilty prisoner endui*e the sight
of the judge ? If Felix trembled when Paul preached of judgment. Acts xxiv. 25., how will sinners tremble when they shall see Christ come to judgment? Christ is de- scribed (sitting in judgment) with a fiery stream issuing from him, Dan. vii. 10. Now the Lamb of God will be turned into a lion ; the sight of Christ will strike ter- ror into sinners. As when Joseph said to his brethren, " I am Joseph whom ye sold into Egypt, they were troubled at his pre- sence," Gen. xlv. 4. : now, how did their hearts smile them for their sin ? so, when Christ shall come to judgment, and say, " I am Jesus whom ye sinned against, — I am Jesus whose laws ye have broken, whose blood ye despised, — I am now come to judge you," O what horror and amazement will take hold of sinners ! Tliey will be trou- bled at the presence of their judge.
Secondly, The approach of Christ to the bench of judicature will be comfortable to the righteous. 1. Christ will come in splen- dour and great glory. His first coming in the flesh was obscure, Isa. liii. 2. He was like a prince in disguise ; but his se- cond coming will be illustrious, " he shall come in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels," Mat. xvi. 27. O what a bright day will that be, when such a num- ber of angels, those morning-stars, shall appear in the air, and Christ the Sun of Righteousness shall shine in splendour a- bove the brightest cherub ! 2. Christ will come as a friend. Indeed, if the the saints' judge were their enemy, they might fear condemning ; but he who loves them, and prayed for them, is their judge ; he who is their husband is their judge, therefore they need not fear but all things shall go well on their side.